Dallas Stars

The Dallas Stars are a professional ice hockey franchise based in Dallas, Texas, competing in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Central Division of the Western Conference. The team plays its home games at American Airlines Center in downtown Dallas. The franchise, originally known as the Minnesota North Stars, began play during the 1967–1968 season when the NHL added six expansion teams, and moved to Dallas before the 1993–94 season. Since arriving in North Texas, the Stars have built one of the more decorated résumés in the Sunbelt hockey era, winning nine division titles in Dallas, two Presidents' Trophies as the top regular season team in the league, the Western Conference championship three times, and the Stanley Cup in 1999.

Origins and the Minnesota Years

The franchise began play during the 1967–1968 season when the NHL added six expansion teams, thereby doubling in size. A team of nine Minnesota businesspeople including Walter Bush Jr. and John Driscoll lobbied the NHL to establish one of the teams in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, and in 1967 the team began playing at the recently constructed Metropolitan Sports Center (the Met Center) in Bloomington, Minnesota. The original team name was derived from the French saying, "L'Etoile du Nord," which means "The Star of the North," and was chosen by fans during a public contest.

The North Stars proved a formidable team throughout the late 1960s and early 1970s, but the franchise ran into financial trouble in the mid-1970s as the North Stars continually failed to qualify for the playoffs. By 1978, the team had missed the playoffs for five seasons in a row, attendance at games had rapidly dwindled, and the owners worried the franchise would go bankrupt. The team later merged with the Cleveland Barons during the 1978–1979 NHL season after experiencing some financial troubles.

During their twenty-six seasons in Minnesota, the North Stars twice won division titles (in 1981–82 and 1983–84) and twice reached the final round of the playoffs (in 1980–81 and 1990–91), but never won a Stanley Cup. During the 1990–91 playoff run, the 27–39–14 North Stars eliminated the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues — owners of the two best records in the NHL that season — as well as the defending champion Edmonton Oilers before ultimately losing to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Stanley Cup Finals.

Despite Minnesota's surprising run to the finals, the team was beset by financial difficulties stemming from its long stretch of losing seasons. After the club's owner, Norm Green, failed to secure a deal to build an arena, he relocated the franchise to Dallas in 1993. Green was convinced by former Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger Staubach that Dallas would be a suitable market for an NHL team. With the team's move to the Southern United States, Green decided to drop the "North" adjective but otherwise retained the "Stars" nickname, which in its shortened form quickly proved popular as it matched the state of Texas' official nickname as "The Lone Star State."

Arrival in Dallas and the Championship Era

The first NHL game in Dallas was played on October 5, 1993, and was a 6–4 win against the Detroit Red Wings. Somewhat ironically, Minnesota native Neal Broten scored the first Stars goal in Dallas. In their first season in Dallas under the guidance of coach and general manager Bob Gainey, the Stars finished third in the Central Division, though they fell to fifth the following season and to sixth, missing the playoffs, in 1995–96. In December 1995, owner Norman Green sold the team to media mogul Tom Hicks, also the owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team.

Dropping the "North" from their name, the Stars were a moderate success in the club's first years in Texas before winning five consecutive division titles between 1996–97 and 2000–01. The team's ascent culminated in the 1998–99 season. In the 1998–99 season, the Stars won 51 games, surpassing the 50-win mark for the first time in franchise history. They also recorded 114 points, which still stands today as a franchise record.

In 1998–99, center Mike Modano, the franchise's all-time leading scorer, and goaltender Ed Belfour led the Stars to the best record in the NHL during the regular season, which Dallas followed by defeating the Buffalo Sabres in a six-game Stanley Cup Final to capture the franchise's first championship. The Stars faced the Buffalo Sabres and beat them in six games, with Brett Hull scoring the game-winning goal in triple overtime in Game Six. Center Joe Nieuwendyk won the Conn Smythe Trophy as most valuable player, and head coach Ken Hitchcock was named Coach of the Year by the Hockey News.

Among the greatest achievements in Dallas Stars history, the 1999 Stanley Cup victory made them the first team from Texas to win hockey's ultimate prize. They reached the Finals again the following year but lost to the New Jersey Devils in six games. By the end of the 2000–2001 season they had won five divisional titles in a row.

At the beginning of the 2001–2002 season the Stars left their longtime venue of Reunion Arena and played in the new American Airlines Center. In early 2002, amidst team and management disputes, Bob Gainey fired Coach Ken Hitchcock and then resigned as general manager. Doug Armstrong was immediately appointed general manager, and Dave Tippett was hired as head coach at the end of the season.

American Airlines Center

American Airlines Center (AAC) is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Victory Park neighborhood in downtown Dallas, Texas, and serves as the home of the Dallas Stars of the National Hockey League and Dallas Mavericks of the National Basketball Association. The city and both teams worked together as a new hotel and car rental tax was passed, along with the teams paying their share, helping to fund the $420 million arena. American Airlines bought the naming rights in 1999 for $195 million.

Designed by architectural firm David M. Schwarz and Dallas-based HKS, Inc., American Airlines Center is equipped with many state-of-the-art features. Housing both the NBA Dallas Mavericks and the NHL Dallas Stars, the American Airlines Center displays its unique versatility with its retractable seating transforming from a 20,000-seat basketball arena into an up-close, action-heavy 18,532-seat hockey rink.

Since opening its doors in 2001, American Airlines Center has been setting the precedent for sporting and live entertainment events. The arena hosted the 55th National Hockey League All-Star Game on January 24, 2007. The venue also hosted the 2018 NHL Draft. Outside the arena, the PNC Plaza entrance is buttressed by statues of Mavericks all-time great Dirk Nowitzki and Stars Hall of Famer Mike Modano.

Notable Players and Franchise Records

The Stars' roster over the decades has included several players inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame. In 2009, Brett Hull became the first Dallas Stars player inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame, followed by Ed Belfour and Joe Nieuwendyk in 2011 and Mike Modano in 2014; Modano is the highest-scoring player in franchise history.

Modano, the top U.S.-born scorer in NHL history, was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2014 and the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 2012. Mike Modano, who served as team captain from 2003 to 2006, led the career leaders' pack, setting the record as all-time goals leader and points leader with 557 goals and 1,359 points before he joined the Detroit Red Wings in 2010. The Stars retired Modano's number 9 in a ceremony at American Airlines Center on March 8, 2014.

Among the Dallas Stars who have won NHL awards are Jamie Benn, who won the Art Ross Trophy as the league's top scorer in 2015 and was named First Team NHL All-Star in 2014, and Jere Lehtinen, who won the Selke Trophy as Best Defensive Forward in 1998, 1999, and 2003.

General manager Jim Nill pulled off a blockbuster trade, acquiring center Tyler Seguin in a seven-player deal with the Boston Bruins. Seguin, one of the top young players in the game, and Dallas captain Jamie Benn gave the Stars two impressive cornerstones moving forward.

The team's colors include Victory Green, black, silver, and white, a palette introduced in 2013 as part of a rebranding effort. The change in ownership in 2011 eventually led to this rebranding for the Stars, the first since the move to Dallas in 1993. The team was purchased by Vancouver businessman and Kamloops Blazers owner Tom Gaglardi in 2011 for $240 million.

Recent History and the 2020 Stanley Cup Final Run

After missing the postseason in 2001–02, the team rebounded to qualify for the playoffs in each season between 2002–03 and 2007–08, advancing to the conference finals in 2007–08 (a loss to the eventual champion Detroit Red Wings). The Stars then entered into a postseason-free streak that reached a franchise-record four years in 2011–12.

On January 1, 2020, the Stars hosted the Nashville Predators in the 2020 Winter Classic at the Cotton Bowl in a rematch of the previous season's first-round playoff series, where the Stars prevailed with a 4–2 victory. This was the first NHL outdoor game for both teams, and with a sold-out crowd of 85,630, it was the second-most attended game in NHL history.

The 2020 Stanley Cup Final was the championship series of the NHL's 2019–20 season, played between the Eastern Conference champion Tampa Bay Lightning and the Western Conference champion Dallas Stars, with the Lightning winning the best-of-seven series four games to two. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the entire series was played behind closed doors at Rogers Place in Edmonton. The pandemic had resulted in the league suspending the regular season on March 12, 2020, and then scheduling a special 24-team playoff format held in two neutral "hub cities" — Edmonton and Toronto — beginning on August 1.

The Stars defeated the Calgary Flames in six games in the first round, the Colorado Avalanche in seven games in the second round, and the Vegas Golden Knights in five games in the Western Conference Finals. The Dallas Stars set the record for the most playoff games played by a team in a single postseason with 27 games. Ultimately, the Tampa Bay Lightning left the COVID-19 bubble with the Stanley Cup after their 2–0 win over the Dallas Stars secured the best-of-seven final 4–2.

In 2022, the Stars hired Peter DeBoer as head coach. After a 108-point 47–21–15 season, the Stars defeated the Colorado Avalanche by one point to win the 2022–23 Central Division title. Dallas reached the Western Conference Finals in 2022–23 and 2023–24 but lost both times.

The Stars' anthem, the "Dallas Stars Fight Song," penned by the metro-area metal group Pantera, aired throughout the team's 1999 Stanley Cup run. The franchise continues to be a central fixture in Dallas's professional sports landscape, sharing Victory Park with the Dallas Mavericks and drawing some of the most loyal hockey fans in the American South.